“Old man, isn't it a bit harsh to talk about people like that? Sure, I've had some bad luck, but to say my looks are average??” Winnie pointed at himself, clearly dissatisfied.
“Which eye of yours sees me as average-looking? Let me tell you, I'm not bragging, every time I've been in a life-or-death situation, it's all thanks to this handsome face of mine! Don't you get it??”
“Alright, shut up, noisy blue-haired brat. Go back where you came from.” The elder grumbled impatiently.
“Go back??” Winnie broadened his eyes. “Hey man, are you even aware? I'm Winnie! I'm here to pick up the reward the Academy gave me, how can you tell me to go back??”
“Who're you calling 'man' with me? No respect for elders. And you say you're Winnie, what proof do you have?” The elder glanced at Winnie.
“Of course I have proof! Do you think I'd lie??” Winnie said, pulling out his student ID.
The elder took the ID, looked Winnie up and down, then stared at the card for a long time.
‘Seriously, this old man is really annoying. What kind of temper is this? Do I look that different from the photo?’
“Could it be that I'm just too handsome, so you didn't recognize me at first glance??” Winnie scoffed, hands on his hips.
“Don't flatter yourself, kid.” The elder clicked his tongue and handed the ID back. “You took so long to come collect your reward, I thought you'd forfeited it.”
“Forfeited? Who'd forfeit?! I just didn't know I had to come here to claim it??” Winnie protested.
‘If you don't grab free benefits, you're a fool, especially when it's a reward I rightfully earned.’
‘After countless battles, I deserve this reward!’
“Not even aware of that? Didn't you read the entire Carillian Academy Student Handbook??” The elder gave Winnie a sidelong glance.
‘Seriously? You expect me to read that thick-ass handbook??’
Winnie's expression twitched.
Aren't those things just meant to be used as toilet paper? Who actually reads them thoroughly anyway??
“You kids these days never take anything seriously,” the elder added disdainfully, then stepped toward a magical identification device to verify Winnie's identity.
Winnie was dissatisfied but followed the elder into the treasure hall.
However, the hall wasn't anything like Winnie had imagined. Instead of dazzling treasures, he looked around and saw only artworks displayed in the circular, domed hall and its corridors, more like an art exhibition than a treasure vault.
“Uh, old man? I came here to pick a reward, not to visit an art gallery?” Winnie complained.
“Brat, do you really think precious treasures are just laid out in the hallways like rare animals on display??” The elder snorted. “What's the rush??”
“Then where am I supposed to pick from??” Winnie asked, confused.
“See? Young people these days don’t understand art anymore. You’re always rushing, too focused on achieving things. You’re all the same.” The elder said, looking down at him disapprovingly.
“So what? Isn't having a strong goal a good thing? How else do you expect to get things done??” Winnie frowned.
“The treasures aren't here, but everything displayed here is priceless art.” The elder glanced around the hall's decor.
“Ah? So you're saying these artworks are all authentic??” This instantly caught Winnie's attention. He started examining the paintings and vases on display. “How much is a single piece worth??”
“Are you the type who puts a price on everything you see? Does every priceless thing have to be measured by its material worth?”
“Then how else am I supposed to know how valuable they are if you don't tell me??” Winnie pouted.
“Never mind. You clearly don't understand art.” With that, the elder waved his staff, and the open hall doors slowly closed inward.
‘Whoa, so advanced, magic automatic doors?’
Winnie thought to himself.
Moreover, as the doors shut, Winnie noticed multiple magical barriers appearing, with runes flashing so fast they nearly blinded him.
Layered together, these barriers were thicker than the massive, wall-like doors. This clearly shows how heavily Carillian Academy protected this place, and how important it truly was.
Winnie followed the elder, initially thinking they were going upstairs, but instead, the elder led him to a room that looked like a library.
Then, right in front of Winnie, the elder pressed a hidden mechanism on a bookshelf. After a moment, the bookshelf slid aside, revealing a magical passage shaped like a magic circle, glowing red and emanating a dangerous aura.
The elder rearranged the floating magical characters, and slowly, the red, static magic gate began to rotate, changing color from red to green.
This is a magical password gate??
Winnie recalled seeing similar secret magical passages in the Mars Ruins. Could it be that this magic was originally invented by the Mars people and one of the few Mars magical techniques that has survived to this day??
It seems very likely. The floating magical characters looked extremely similar to Mars script, sharing a striking resemblance. It felt more like the original Mars characters had evolved slightly over time, but their core form remained. Even though later generations couldn't read them, they'd continued using them out of habit.
But...
‘Is it really okay for me to see this stuff??’
“Uh, old man, aren't you going to hide this from me?” Winnie pursed his lips. “I just saw the password, you know? Even if you don't mind, I should! What if this place gets robbed later, won't I be the prime suspect??”
“You think of everything, don't you?” The elder gave Winnie a cold look. “Do you really think I wouldn't have considered that? Do you think I let every student who comes to pick rewards see the password?”
“Ah? Then what's going on?”
“Hmph, so ignorant.” The elder snorted. “Do you really think such a secret place would use a fixed password?”
“Don't worry. Next time, you won't know the password.”
Oh, so it's a dynamic password??
Winnie suddenly understood.
He could only admit, times had changed. In the era of Mars civilization, passwords were fixed. But now, with advancements in magic, dynamic magical passwords have been developed.
But then... how does this elder know the ever-changing password??
Winnie was deeply curious.
Seeing the elder enter the magical passage, Winnie quickly followed.
After a brief, mystical sensation and momentary weightlessness, Winnie felt his feet touch solid ground. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a grand, magnificent, and highly unique hall.
In the center of the hall stood a wide cross-shaped bridge made of exquisite, luminous stone bricks. Floating in the middle of the bridge, surrounded by railings and without any support, was a massive crystal platform.
The cylindrical hall's walls were covered with paintings. Strangely, these didn't look like ordinary artworks. Although artistically sketched, they all depict various objects, each one extremely unusual in appearance.
Whoa.
Winnie looked around in awe, unable to hold back his amazement. This circular tower feels like a bizarre, surreal world.
“Kid, what are you standing there for? If you're not picking, I'm leaving.” The elder's voice snaps Winnie back to reality. He realized the elder had already walked onto the floating crystal platform.
“Uh... oh.” Winnie hurried across the broad cross-shaped bridge, wide enough for several carriages side by side. He stared at the floating crystal platform, hesitating for a moment.
“Tch, what? Scared you'll fall?” The elder gazed at Winnie's reaction. “You're a Carillian Academy student, have you never seen something like this? Didn't you say you've been in deep ruins? Still afraid of this??”
Winnie glanced down through the gaps. Below was nothing but an endless abyss, with layers of mist obscuring any view, his vision's limit.
“Seen it, yes, but exactly because I've seen it, I understand the saying: a noble man doesn't stand beneath a dangerous wall.” Winnie shot the elder a glance.
“Enough. This isn't dangerous. This place is the safest in the entire Carillian Academy, second only to the Order Spire.” The elder huffed. “If you don't come up now, I'll consider that you don't want anything.”
“Tch.” Winnie leapt over the railing onto the crystal platform. Instantly, a powerful wave of weightlessness washed over him. He clutched the rail, almost losing his footing.
Then, he saw his view rising rapidly, realizing the crystal platform beneath his feet was ascending.
As the height increased, more and more artwork paintings came into his field of vision.
“Old man, have we arrived?” Winnie looked up at the seemingly endless peak, seeing only layers of thick mist.
“Arrived? Haven't we already arrived? Are you blind??” The elder gave him a cold stare.
“Ah? But there's nothing here??” Winnie was puzzled.
“Your eyesight's bad? Can't you see those floating paintings? Choose. Which one do you want?”
“Ah??” Winnie was completely stunned. “Wait, old man, I didn't come here to become an art collector! I'm not here to pick artworks??”
“You don't want it?” The elder looked at Winnie.
“I thought the rewards were enchanted items? Why are there only paintings here??... Anyway, how much are these paintings worth?” Clinging to his principle of not leaving empty-handed, Winnie thought: if they're giving out art, fine, maybe he could sell them later for some cash.
“Then... uh, that one. It looks good to me.” Winnie pointed at a floating painting depicting a strange heavy crossbow.
“Fine.” The elder waved his hand. The painting, as if understanding human speech, floated towards them and gently landed in Winnie's hands.
The moment it touched Winnie's palms, it transformed into a physical object, a peculiar heavy crossbow identical in size to the one in the painting.
“Ah!?” Feeling the weight of the heavy crossbow in his arms, Winnie's eyes broadened.
“Always overreacting,” the elder seemed to look down on Winnie's wide-eyed, astonished expression like a country bumpkin entering a grand mansion.
Seriously, he'd never seen anything like this before, how was he supposed to act??
“Wait... we were choosing artworks, right??” Winnie was momentarily speechless.
“You actually want art? Didn't know you had such taste in art. Then you'll have to come back upstairs, everything you saw in the hall down there is genuine art.” The elder said casually.
“No, no! I mean, these 'paintings' floating here, are they all real items?!” Winnie exclaimed in shock.
“I said you're ignorant. What's so surprising? Any enchanted item of no low rank becomes a painting here. That's the power of the [Gallery Tower].” The elder explained.
“Whoa, that's amazing??” Winnie turned to look at the thousands of floating paintings filling the tower.
“Uh, old man, can I change my pick? I don't want this one anymore.”
“You're such a picky kid.” The elder rolled his eyes. “You just said you wanted this.”
“But I thought they were just paintings before??” Winnie clearly didn't want the heavy crossbow.
Seriously, what would he do with this thing? He wasn't an assassin or thief, and even assassins wouldn't be able to handle such a large crossbow, right??
“This is a fire-element enchanted heavy crossbow. Are you sure you don't want it??”
“Fire? Then I definitely can't take it.” Winnie shook his head.
Come on, even enchanted weapons rely on the user's elemental affinity to unleash their magical power. Only someone with high fire affinity will benefit from it. What use would it be to someone like him with low fire affinity??
Absolutely useless.
“Old man, I don't want this crossbow. I need to pick another one.” Winnie said. “How do I return it?”
“Just let go of it yourself.” The elder said indifferently.
“Eh? Won't it fall down?” Winnie was doubtful, but did as told.
Sure enough, just as the elder said, the heavy crossbow didn't fall. Instead, it floated in midair, slowly drifting back to its original position, gradually transforming back into a painting during the process.
Truly amazing.
Absolutely awe-inspiring.
Winnie couldn't help but think.
“Old man, what's that? Why are some paintings golden, and some silver??” Winnie asked.
“Golden ones are enchanted items of [Magical Artifact] rank or higher. If you want those, you can only pick one.” The elder said flatly.
“Ah? Only one??”
“What did you expect? If you hadn't qualified twice in a row, you wouldn't even be allowed in here. Do you think anyone can come here??” The elder said irritably.